At some stage in the next week or so Israel Folau will discover his fate. But if it’s this week, it’ll be late in the piece, primarily due to Easter.
Israel is wrong, no question about it. He’s a man of immense influence who took that power and belittled homosexual people.
What a woeful use of the platform he’s been given.
That he did it a year after almost being fired for pretty much the same thing shows he’s either an idiot or immensely arrogant.
Or perhaps he’s a bit confused.
While Rugby Australia needed a little time to sort out the specifics of his code of conduct hearing, the process has been shunted back due to the whole country being on a break at the moment.
Because it’s Easter.
Israel Folau (Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
Now, Israel may rail against Christ’s resurrection being used as a “man-made” chance to take a few days off work and eat too much chocolate.
But he’s probably also a bit miffed about people who want to sack him for preaching the Bible then taking four days’ break to celebrate that book’s central figure.
It seems a tad hypocritical, doesn’t it?
“We’re going to fire you for talking about the things we don’t like in that book you’ve dedicated your life to. But we’ll have to officially give you the boot next week, because we’re having a holiday thanks to events described in the Gospel.”
It’s wilfully ignorant for an educated Australian of the 21st century to believe blindly in a series of teachings that date back thousands of years as being fact. So much of what’s in those pages are obviously stories people told each other millennia ago to try and make sense of the vast, unknowable world around them.
Yet the whole country – most of the western world, for that matter – is presently soaking up an extended vacation because that same book said a carpenter from the Middle East (who admittedly had some pretty groovy ideas) came back from the dead more than 2000 years ago.
We ridicule those who do the former, yet jump on board for the latter. So where have we drawn this line between crazy belief and sweet, sweet government-mandated holidays?
And what about the reporting of Folau’s quotes this past week?
The Sydney Morning Herald sent a reporter along to the Truth of Jesus Christ Church at Kenthurst last Sunday and got a few words out of Folau:
“Whatever His will is, whether that’s to continue playing or not, I’m more than happy to do what He wants me to do…
“First and foremost, I live for God now. Whatever He wants me to do, I believe His plans for me are better than whatever I can think.”
These quotes were run by not only the SMH and its affiliate publications, but also News and the likes of the ABC. I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that we here at The Roar published them too.
My issue is not that his words were reported – he deserves a right of reply. It’s that all the above-mentioned outlets, having (more or less) made it clear they do not agree with Folau’s stance, used reverential capitalisation for pronouns:
“Whatever He wants me to do, I believe His plans…”
I get using a capital G when referring to God – it’s a deity’s name. Similarly, you would write Vishnu, Ahura Mazda or Rainbow Serpent.
But He and His? What’s going on there? Especially when you’re writing out the spoken word?
Israel Folau (Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
I can answer in part because I’ve got a copy (one that’s admittedly a bit older) of the Fairfax Stylebook.
Regarding God, it states:
“For the Judaeo-Christian and Islamic God. Upper case pronouns used for God: He, Him, His, Thou, Thee, Thy, You, Your, Me, My. Lower case god, gods generically.”
Presumably these other publications’ style guides say something similar (for the record, The Roar style guide – a genuine work of art by the great Geoff Lemon – is silent on the issue of capitalising deities).
But, to be clear, it is a style choice – it’s not simply accepted as being grammatically correct. AAP, for example, don’t use capitals when concerning themselves with pronouns referring to a god that some people believe in.
But we don’t even need to go as far as style guides. You ever wonder where the word holi-day comes from? Do I need to spell it out?
Religion – specifically Christianity – is an ingrained part of our culture.
It dictates our time off work and school, guides the way our media reports the news and even lies at the root of how we spell our words.
So should we be surprised – or even angry – when someone goes delving into that religion a bit deeper than the rest of us care to and digs up something we don’t like?
No, I’m not saying that it excuses Folau – pretty sure there’s stuff in that book about not casting the first stone and taking the log out of your own eye before pointing out the splinter in others’.
But if he is confused about what does and doesn’t fly when quoting the Bible in Australia, I can somewhat sympathise – we might wear thongs or even Jesus sandals, but we flip-flop on Christianity.
So rather than simply spelling the end of Folau’s rugby career, this unfortunate incident could be used as a turning point for our country.
I daresay the word ‘holiday’ is set in stone, but the rest of it doesn’t need to be.
Maybe it’s time we stop determining when our national holidays are – especially this floating Easter malarkey, which can be any weekend in a month-long window – based on a splintered, factionalised gang of old white men wearing robes (yes, yes, it’s determined by the moon’s cycle, but the moon didn’t invent this concept).
Let’s just legislate a set, four-day weekend each March and call it the quarter-year break.
And as for our nation’s largest, most trusted media outlets? It’s definitely time to give away the reverential capitalisation – it’s antiquated, illogical and panders to the wrong kind of people.
Because as long as Christianity is a determining factor in basic ways we run our country, misguided Bible bashers will have reasonable cause to think that we’re interested in living our lives based on the crazier aspects of that tome.
Alister Smith
Guest
Sorry Istanbul but that is complete bollocks. Constantine, the Roman Emperor invited ALL bishops from around the world (which would have largely been the Empire at that time) and at least some from Syria are recorded as having attended the council. It was largely developed to address the heresy of Arius and resulted in the adoption of the Nicean Creed. The Council of Nicea may have discussed the books that were in the bible but it was the Council's of Hippo (393 ad) and the Council of Carthage (397ad) that decided the final books that became the modern new testament. BUT and its a big BUT they were assembled then, whittled down from I think more than 50 books to the current 27 that are in there. But there is no conjecture that anything was written or adjusted at this time. Books were removed because their origin was doubtful, they were at odds with the main canon, they had faults in their interpretation or contained heresies or were thought to have been written too long after the actual events took place - which goes against your theory. All of the books contained in the current bible are thought to have been written by around 100 AD, within 70 years of Jesus death in 33 AD and only 30 years after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. To put that in context, Peter Fitzsimons released a serious of books based on the battles of the first world war around 100 years after the events (so 30 years later). As to Jesus not being mentioned in historical works before 400 AD, well some of the epistles and gospel were written and in existence from as early as within 15-20 years of His death and resurrection and he is also mentioned in other historical works like the writings of Flavius Josephus - an independent, non biblical source who reported on the Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire. There are more written mentions of Jesus in ancient historical writings, some say up to 42, not more than Julius Cesaer apparently but more than Alexander the Great and many, if not most, other historical figures of that rough time period.
Alister Smith
Guest
The New Testament was written by Romans?? Paul was a Jew from Tarsus (modern day Turkey, part of the Roman Empire admittedly but so was Israel). (John Mark) was a compatriot of the Jesus and the apostles from Jerusalem (again admittedly in the Roman Empire). Matthew and John possibly two of the apostles themselves although there is some conjecture about that but no suggestion that they weren't Jews. My understanding is that almost all of the New Testament was written in Greek (not Roman, Italian or Latin) and certainly no evidence that they were Romans (or anymore Romans than the other citizens of the Roman empire in modern day France, Spain, Libya, Turkey or England). The books of the old Testament were written in Aramaic rather than Jewish.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Will Swinton writes very well. There has been a pile of vicious judgement flying around this broad church we call ‘Australia’ or ‘the rugby community ‘. Too many certainties. Not enough gentle humilities. Agree that Izzy coulda shoulda gouda added his own gentle rhetoric to the cut and paste brimstone meme he inherited from others. And others too, with different world views could also express gooder good news. “Love peace and good coffee.” to you KP
jeznez
Roar Guru
Yeah, funnily enough I'm not psychic either. :D I believe he is sincere when he says he loves everyone and suspect he follows a love the sinner / hate the sin line. However I am not sure that is more than a platitude on something like gender identity or sexuality. It seems pretty clear to me that he reads the bible to confirm his biases. There was video released of him preaching and citing the book of Jeremiah condemning pagan practices and saying "When you read that passage, you can already see it's talking about the Christmas tree." Never mind that he is citing a book written around 630 BC claiming it criticises a practice with it's origins in 16th century Scandinavia. When he sent out this poster saying that homosexuals are going to hell, it was at the same time that he was posting on twitter against the legislation change that has made gender an optional tick box on Tasmanian birth certificates. Completely ignores that gender identity and sexuality are not the same thing but he's shown a few times that he isn't the deepest thinker.
Neil
Guest
FWIW, I think he feels the same way I do. I'm not psychic though, so can't be sure, but strongly suspect he does.
Neil
Guest
No worries. This is such a loaded issue it doesn't help losing our temper with each other. :fistpump:
jeznez
Roar Guru
Apologies if I’ve confused your views with Izzy’s.
Neil
Guest
Wow. That's quite a claim. How do you back it up? I'm gay by the way so tread carefully.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Just pray for me during my... Frequent.... Wine time.
jeznez
Roar Guru
You want to defend under a claim of love. It’s complete straw. Hide the bigotry behind claims of love and by cherry picking parts of an ancient book all you like. Your true colours are plain as day.
Neil
Guest
To be fair though, I did steel man you. I'll give you that :P
Neil
Guest
Dude I directly addressed your statement. Do you know what straw man means? And quoting bible verses back to me when you're losing an argument is pretty lame. Nonetheless. I believe that loving other people is helping them not go to hell. Jesus whole ministry was a demonstration of that principle. I think calling sinners to repentance is a model he created, that Christians follow, and if you don't like it, you'll have to find a way to curb our religious freedom. I strongly suspect more tantrums to be the way you will approach this.
jeznez
Roar Guru
And you asked your straw man so nicely. Maybe get a bit more on board with love one another as I have loved you, let he without sin cast the first stone and finally wake up to the fact that seeking to prevent loving relationships and equating them with lies and stealing, etc. Just shines a light on your small mind rather than the innocents being attacked.
Neil
Guest
Erm, I believe his post was directed at all sorts of sinners (fornicators etc). It's just the gay folk that are having a hissy fit. I assume, probably, because they have had a hard time in society up until now and tantrums finally seem to be working. Not that you addressed my question at all.
jeznez
Roar Guru
He’s cherry picked the bible to tell a group of people they are bound for eternal torment. It’s a beard, where is all his campaigning to save the shellfish eaters?
Neil
Guest
If I try to stop you from going to hell, is that because I hate you? Exactly ...
Diablo James
Roar Rookie
You've both missed the point! Christians do not base their beliefs on proof or faith but deeply meaningful and personal experiences that transcend scientific explanation. Respect ...
Istanbul Wingman
Roar Guru
In the Pacific Islands the third gender is a traditional part of society. In Samoa they are referred to as Fa'afafine and in Tonga as Fakaleiti. This far out-dates the arrival of Christianity in the islands.
Istanbul Wingman
Roar Guru
You've obviously misconstrued something there, Andy.
real tuna
Guest
Pathetic. The Roar should be about quality rugby articles, and often is, not this diatribe that isn't even about the sport we all love (regardless of the team or religion we support). Or am I mistaken and need to move on?